Spot Inspection
Chapter 18
-Ash-
Taking in a deep breath of the familiar air, Ash stepped off the ferry, Jane's fingers laced with his own. "Glad to be back home?" Jane asked him with a smile as they walked down the familiar streets of his hometown.
"Yeah," Ash admitted with a smile as he gave his girlfriend's hand a squeeze "it feels good to be back." Not to mention that Oak's arrest was the first real 'drama' the sleepy little town had experienced for years so this would hopefully be a stress free visit. The most he expected to have to deal with was teasing.
"Come on, my house is that way." He nodded down one of the streets, "I didn't tell my mom we were coming, thought it'd make a fun surprise."
"Then let's not keep her waiting." Jane chuckled as he led her through town, waving to those he knew from growing up here. Spotting his house, Ash saw his mother working out in the garden and smirked. Holding up a finger for silence to Jane, Ash crept closer to his mother, reading to startle her with his greeting.
Getting right behind her he took a deep breath and- "Really Ash?" his mother didn't even turn as she spoke, Ash choking on his own spit while Jane snickered.
"Wha-?! How?!" Ash gaped as his mom got up, dusting herself off smugly.
"Did you really think Jane's sister and I wouldn't keep in contact?" Ash's mom gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes before she pulled him into a tight hug, Jane getting one a moment later, "She told me when you finished up on Cinnabar and were heading here. Oh, and you're not nearly as sneaky as you seem to think you are."
"I'm plenty sneaky." Ash grumbled even as Jane and his mom snickered, Jane patting his head in mock comfort.
"Sure, you are sweetie." Jane stuck her tongue out at him.
"Come on you two." Ash's mom chuckled, "You can help me go get some groceries. We're having a big dinner for the four of us tonight!"
"Alright!" Ash's frustration at the mockery of his stealth skill was washed away at the prospect of his mom's amazing cooking.
-Jane-
"And then," Jane laughed as she sipped at her glass of wine, the remnants of Mrs. Ketchum's delicious dinner littering the table as She, her sister, and the two Ketchums shared stories "the little shit sent out his Arcanine. The poor thing barely knew any moves so Oak had to have evolved it right away."
"I still can't believe this whole thing happened while I was in the bathroom." Ash shook his head, chuckling as he refilled his own glass.
"Believe it love." Jane blew him a kiss, Ash's cheeks darkening as she grinned, "Besides, I'm sure you'll get the chance to kick his teeth in at the league. He was quite smug at beating eleven Gyms, even if they were almost all lower ranked ones."
"Gary always did look for any reason he could find to brag." Ash sighed in exasperation "Can't believe he was ever my 'rival'. Maybe I should put an add out in the newspaper for a new one."
"That'd be a sight!" Mrs. Ketchum snorted, sipping her own drink, "Young Male trainer looking for new rival. Must be competent, hygienic, and possess better manners than a Raticate."
"Such high standards." Jane giggled, the conversation devolving into her and her boyfriend's mother going back and forth about what requirements a rival should have. She never noticed Ash slipping away to talk to her sister for a bit.
-Ash-
"Pikachu, use thundershock!" Ash called out, having gotten permission from the League reps in the area to train on the outskirts of what had been the Oak ranch. He wanted to be prepared for either a battle with the strongest Gym Leader or for more of the usual insanity that seemed to follow his journey.
"Arcanine, flamethrower!" Jane countered, his girlfriend just as excited to battle as he was. Especially as they had the area all to themselves, her sister having confirmed nobody outside the group still at the lab near the front of the Ranch was being permitted on the property.
The two elemental attacks met in midair, an explosive shockwave blasting out from the intersection. The force was thankfully redirected away by Espeon and Umbreon, the two on standby to keep things safe as they redirected the blast towards the nearby cliff face, cracking apart the stone. Then it started to crumble and fall, the weaker outer rock revealed a different sturdier looking material underneath. A hidden temple right by Pallet town.
"The hell?!" Ash gaped as he and Jane shared a shocked look, hesitantly approaching the revealed temple. "There's something there." He saw something orange shining in the rubble, not an ounce of dust or damage visible.
"It looks ancient." Jane blinked in shock at the relic, both of them being careful not to touch anything, "I'll call the archeology facility by Grandpa Canyon. They might be able to get someone ou-" Jane's comments were cut off by a hand shooting over and snatching the relic with all the grace of a hammer.
"I finally found it! Professor, look what I found!" a bubbly air headed voice shouted, waving her arm in the air spastically as she tried to run off with the relic. Tried being the key word as Jane instantly had the woman slammed onto the ground in an arm bar.
"Ash, hold her down." Jane glared at the random trespasser as she carefully took the relic out of the airhead's hands.
"What on earth are you doing?!" a short man in tan clothes gaped at Jane manhandling the airhead.
"Arresting a trespasser." Ash deadpanned even as he shot a text to Jane's sister who, within minutes, had arrived on a Pidgeot and started arresting the others for their illegal excavation. She even had her Alakazam go fetch some of the Archeologists from the Grandpa Canyon facility to come help look into the now revealed ruins properly.
"This is quite the find." One of the proper archeologists examined the orange relic he and Jane had found, the others looking through what the now arrested idiots had dug up…and what they'd destroyed with their malpractice and mishandling.
"It looks like it's made as the same material as…is this a spoon?" another archeologist blinked as they looked at what was clearly a spoon.
"Yes, that's a…why is it floating?" Ash blinked as the relic and the spoon began floating before merging, a bright light shining.
"Everyone get, away!" a grey-haired man who'd come with the archeologists ordered, a massive steel type Ash didn't recognize getting sent out as the man got ready for battle.
"Ala!" the glowing light started to collect, writhing and congealing as it took the shape of a massive Pokémon with tribal markings "Alakazam!" in an instant Ash dropped to a knee, clutching his head at the psychic pressure the powerful Pokémon was giving out. It wasn't directed at him specifically so much as the general area. It almost felt like a challenge to fight.
He'd barely had time to think that when the ground began to shake and crack, a small glowing vajra lifting into the air before seemingly absorbing the darkness around it. A Gengar, just as large as the Alakazam and with its own tribal markings, appeared. The two had scarcely laid eyes on each other before they began to fight, the ground cracking and trees being uprooted in their fury.
Ash grit his teeth, trying to get up to help even as his fought through the psychic pressure. His skull was pounding like he'd run face first into a brick wall.
Jane, however, suffered no such drawback.
"Umbreon, Dark Return!" Jane ordered her Pokémon to use the new move she'd been creating with Ash's help. The attack 'Return' was absurdly powerful if the Pokémon using it had a strong enough bond with their trainer. So, he and Jane had worked to alter the attack to make use of types besides Normal. The result was a powerful black blast slamming into the two rampaging giants.
"Kazam!"
"Gar!"
The two angry giants turned towards Jane who didn't even pause, "Flash!" she ordered as she sent out the rest of her team, "Flamethrower! Hydropump! Hurricane!" she kept ordering out attacks that hammered the rampaging giants who were already injured from fighting each other so soon after waking up. The onslaught proved too much as a pair of pokeballs were thrown, capturing the two with merry 'clicks'.
"…That's one hell of a girlfriend you've got young man." The stunned grey haired man wearing a suit commented as he helped Ash up, Jane running over to help support him.
"Yeah," Ash gave Jane a smile "she's amazing."
AN: Yeah, never was a big fan of 'Eve and the Archeologists' or the fact that the awesome ancient Pokémon didn't get to come back. We know that the ruins were found right near Pallet town and given the size of Oak's estate, and how Ash was always there for training or starting from there, I figured it was part of Oak's property. Meaning I really doubt they had the proper permits to even do their business there. The whole 'Hey, they just found an ancient artifact! *steal* Everyone, look what I found!' never really gave me any sort of faith in their ability before either. So now they kept the smackdown they deserved and Jane's team now has all six slots filled.
AN2: Alright everyone, this fic is nearing its conclusion. We still have the Giovanni inspection (I think y'all will really like this one) next chapter followed by the league and 'epilogue'. After this story finishes I'm going to put up a new poll. I'll grab the story from each of the cycle categories I think is closest to completion and put them there. Whichever one wins will take this story's place as the 'updated every post till it's done' slot.